CM orders probe into mismanagement at Thane Civil Hospital

Thane: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an inquiry into the alleged mismanagement at Thane Civil Hospital where a 24-year-old woman from Bhiwandi died due to medical negligence this week after being left ‘unattended’ for hours.

Fadnavis announced the enquiry order while speaking to newsmen here last night after Chaitra Navaratra Utsav.

According to police, Usha Pawar, from Rohini of Kawad Gram Panchayat, was admitted to Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital in Bhiwandi near here where she delivered a child through normal procedure around 1.45 PM on March 24.

However, she developed post-delivery complications and was then transferred to Thane Civil Hospital where the doctors, who attended to her after 4 PM, declared her brought dead while being taken to the ICU, the police complaint by victim’s husband Dharmendra Vishnu Pawar said.

Pawar has alleged that his wife, who was suffering from excessive bleeding, was left unattended for hours even after several pleas to doctors at the hospital.

The woman kept lying in an ambulance in the Civil Hospital premises for about two hours which worsened her condition leading to her death, he further alleged.

The family has also accused the hospital of hastily conducting her postmortem in the wee hours around 2 AM, as against the normal practice of autopsy during day hours.

Following the incident, relatives of the victim and MNS activists took to the streets the next day (March 25) and finally the body of the victim was sent to JJ Hospital for a second post-mortem.

Hospital Civil Surgeon Dr Gauri Rathod and ACS Dr RI Rathod had to face the ire of agitators that day when they refused to take the woman’s body and demanded action against the errant doctors and other medical staff.

In a related development, Deputy Director of Health Mumbai Division, Dr Ratna Ravkhande also carried out an independent investigation into the episode and her report has been submitted to the government, it is learnt.

Earlier talking to PTI, Ravkhande had said that she was awaiting other reports like sonography of the victim, post-mortem report of JJ Hospital and the CCTV footage after which a final decision as to who was at fault can be arrived.

Sr PI Dilip Borste of Thane Nagar police station said that an offence under Section 304A of the IPC had been registered against unnamed doctors of the Civil Hospital based on the complaint by the woman’s husband.

Earlier, based on a communication from the Thane Civil Hospital, the Bhiwandi taluka police had registered an accidental death report (ADR).